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MARK MORAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ Christian Thomas was officially named to the Canadian Olympic team for Pyeongchang.

WILKES-BARRE — Canada’s Olympic success in men’s ice hockey is undeniable, with nine gold medals all-time and three championships over the past four Winter Games.

So it’s easy to see why Thursday was a dream come true for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Christian Thomas.

Thomas was officially announced as part of the country’s roster for the upcoming Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He previously competed for Canada this season at the Karjala and Spengler Cup tournaments, which were used as evaluation events by the Hockey Canada governing body in building the 25-man squad.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Thomas said in an audio interview provided by the Penguins. “I think I laid it all on the ice in these last two tournaments, and I thought I had a good chance (to make the team). Hearing this is, it’s unbelievable.”

The 25-year-old has nine goals and eight assists in 23 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season and has been red-hot of late, with four points (3G-A) in his last two appearances.

Thomas said he actually received the good news Wednesday afternoon and one of the first things he did was talk to his family. It was an “almost emotional” moment for father Steve, a veteran of 1,235 NHL games as a player.

He also received congratulations from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Clark Donatelli, himself the captain of Team USA in 1992.

Former players Andrew Ebbett and Chris Lee were also selected to compete, along with goaltender Justin Peters — the brother of current Wilkes-Barre/Scranton netminder Anthony Peters.

The preliminary round of the tournament begins Feb. 10, with Canada’s opening game taking place one day later against Russia. Also in Group A are South Korea, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Although there are no NHL players competing at this year’s tournament — a decision reached by the league last April — the Canadian roster is filled with professional talent. All 25 players have spent time in the AHL, combining for 5,435 regular season games, and 13 are currently representing the Kontinental Hockey League — widely considered the world’s second most prestigious.

Thomas, therefore, expects the team to be very competitive and contend for a medal.

“There’s tons of players, ex-NHLers,” Thomas said. “It’s Canada. It’s going to be a really good team, and I think Canada coming into a tournament — especially the Olympics — always has a good shot to win.”

Fathers’ day

Thursday was a special day for a number of other Penguins, as well.

This weekend’s two-game swing through Canada marks the team’s first ever Fathers Trip, and a few of the dads were on hand at the Toyota SportsPlex to watch practice, enjoy lunch and then join the team for its bus ride to Belleville for tonight’s game. The Penguins also face Laval on Saturday.

More than a dozen fathers are expected to take part this weekend, with at least eight expected to join in after the team crosses the border.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said forward Ryan Haggerty, who was joined by father Roger on Thursday. “Almost everyone in this room can say they grew up playing hockey because of their dad or mom. Bringing them along on a trip like this, spend some time with everyone and get to know everyone’s stories, hear about the rinks they made and all the commitments they committed to for us to play this game, it’s pretty cool.”

Among the other fathers present were Tom McGrath, Greg Trotman and Mark Tinordi.

Such trips have become popular among NHL teams over the last decade or so, but it’s the first time the Penguins have put an official one together.

Tinordi said he’s most looking forward to getting to know some of the other players on the team, while Roger Haggerty joked he was dreading the bus ride. He made plenty as a former minor league baseball player in the Boston Red Sox system in the ’80s.

“I’m sure the buses are a lot nicer than in the Florida State League or the Carolina League, Eastern League when we were traveling,” he later clarified. “It’ll be a fun experience.”

And no need to worry about the players losing sight of what’s most important this weekend — picking up a potential four points.

“They actually had a little something in their step in practice playing in front of their dad,” Donatelli said. “I’m sure they’re all excited to get going here and get up there.”

Contact the writer:

tpiccotti@citizensvoice.com;

570-821-2089;

@CVPiccotti on Twitter

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